Sunday sit-down: Jonathan M. Meagher

Sunday

May 5, 2013 at 6:00 AMMay 5, 2013 at 6:19 AM

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When Jonathan M. Meagher was in high school on the North Shore, he joined the Mock Trial team as an extracurricular activity. He found the experience so rewarding and fun that he introduced the program at Holy Name after he joined the faculty. Though he’s not an attorney, Mr. Meagher figures that with his years of association with the Mock Trial program, he could probably do a decent job arguing a courtroom case.

How has Holy Name fared over the years in the competition?

As in years past, we had some skirmishes in January with our area schools and the actual season started in February. The end-of-the-year state competition is set up pretty much like the NCAA “sweet sixteen.” We made the “elite eight” in the state finals this year and we were the only school in Central Massachusetts to do so. This is my 18th year participating and generally we’ve gone pretty deep in the competition. In 2002, we made it to the finals but lost out by a point to Needham (High School). There are about eight schools that compete in the Worcester area and our local rivals are St. John’s in Shrewsbury and the Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science.

Describe the Massachusetts Mock Trial program.

It’s sponsored and organized by the Massachusetts Bar Association and I guess it’s a good way for the organization to introduce high school students to the law. It features a fictitious court case and the students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses. The performances are scored by real presiding judges and Massachusetts law and rules of evidence are used. If you sit in on one of our competitions, it’s just like you’re witnessing a court case. Like any trial, you have your open and closing arguments. There are direct and cross examinations, with the “attorneys” making all kinds of objections. The “witnesses” work off three-page affidavits and they are allowed to expand on the material. It’s the prosecution’s job to prove the case and it’s the defense attorneys’ jobs to poke holes in the arguments. The competitions take a couple of hours to complete.

What are these fictitious cases like?

The students can be arguing a civil or a criminal case. In all honesty, the kids prefer the criminal ones. A couple of years ago, an investment fraud case was featured and the students really couldn’t get into it. The bar association does try to make the cases relevant and they may, for example, be based on something that happened recently in the news.

What was this year’s case about?

This year, we had a murder case to deal with. You could actually bill it as your classic murder mystery. The story was about a 90-year-old woman who is found dead. She has some heart problems and some symptoms of dementia. The autopsy showed that she died of an overdose of pills. The main question was whether the death was accidental and the whole case takes off from there. For example, there was a live-in nurse and the witnesses in this case involved nieces and nephews who could inherit a lot of money as a result of the woman’s death.

What kind of student is drawn to Mock Trial?

We get a broad mix of students. Realistically, Mock Trial isn’t one of the more popular extracurricular activities that we have on campus. More students, for example, are drawn to sports or the music programs. But Mock Trial gets its share of interest. On average, we have about 14 kids that participate from year to year. Gender doesn’t factor in. That can vary from year to year.

What kind of commitment and skill set does it involve?

You really have to be devoted to the program. Participants have to commit some serious time over the course of a five- to six-month period. Practices can run 12 to 14 hours some weeks and that doesn’t factor in prep time at home.

What do the students get out of the program?

Mock Trial helps build confidence and one’s analytical skills. The kids are always thinking on their feet. I took part in the program myself while I was in school (St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers). I wasn’t the most outgoing kid and I got a lot out of Mock Trial. It helped me to speak in public and to take risks. When you’re competing, you’re putting yourself on the line. The focus is on you. I find it particularly rewarding when an awkward, shy kid joins the team and eventually puts on a suit and does things that he or she never thought they’d be capable of doing. That gives me a lot of satisfaction.

It actually sounds pretty nerve-wracking.

Well, the students have been preparing for a long time and they don’t want to screw up. So, when the competition begins, it’s not surprising that some can be nervous or wound up. But once they start playing their roles, they really get into the flow of things. There have been times when things were so intense and the students were so involved that you’d have a brawl-like atmosphere in the courtroom. In the end, it’s all fun.

After spending all that time coaching the students, you must be sitting on the edge of your seat during a competition.

I’m fortunate because I have two people helping me, Anne Kennedy and Elizabeth Morse. Anne is an assistant principal at the school who worked as a lawyer for many years in the district attorney’s office. Elizabeth is a Holy Name graduate and an attorney with Wickstrom Morse. I’m probably more expressive than I should be at the competitions, so I try to sit where I’m normally out of the view of the judge.

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